CEER June 2021 Newsletter 

Editorial Section
Summer beckons and one in which we hope that many of you will be able to find some rest, relaxation and nice days. However, we do hope that you will find the time to attend three upcoming webinars in July, one of which will have the participation of stakeholders like you! Please see the Events section below for more. This online event will not only present CEER’s new strategy which takes effect next year, but also look at specific proposals for the 2022 work programme, on which we are currently seeking your feedback via an online questionnaire that is open through 9 August. Looking further ahead, CEER’s July-August Newsletter will have some updates on CEER’s people.
 
Publications
•  10 June: CEER 2022-2025 Strategy “Empowering Consumers for the Energy Transition”: This essential document sets the stage for CEER’s work well into the middle of this decade. It builds on the current 3D Strategy for 2019 until 2021. The basis of the Strategy is that European energy regulators, with a view to promoting the energy transition and contributing to a carbon-neutral society and economy, are committed to “empowering consumers for the energy transition”, by:

o Enabling energy system integration: integrating renewables and incentivising innovation;
o Placing consumers at the centre of energy markets with consumer-centric dynamic regulation, empowering consumers to actively contribute to and benefit from a flexible energy system; and
o Ensuring open, well-functioning and resilient markets nationally and in Europe: delivering flexibility and new business models.
These are three regulatory dimension that lead to six core areas for CEER’s work in the coming years, including in the draft 2022 work programme, 
which was released on 11 June (see public consultations below). 

•    22 June
CEER Response to the European Commission’s Public Consultation on the Hydrogen and Gas Market Decarbonisation Package: For those interested in how Europe’s regulators have responded to this European Commission consultation, it has been published on CEER’s website as well as being available as a public response. CEER submitted an additional document, which notes the following main considerations on key regulatory aspects for the future design and governance of the gas sector:

1.    Adopt a gradual and flexible regulatory approach to developments related to hydrogen.
2.    Continue to improve the performance of the gas market.
3.    Guarantee consumer rights regardless of the energy carrier.
4.    Enhance NRAs’/ACER oversight of integrated infrastructure planning.
5.    Apply a no-regrets policy for investment decisions.
6.    Respect the beneficiary-pays principle for infrastructure investments.

•    28 June
CEER Status Review of Renewable Support Schemes in Europe for 2018 and 2019. Please see our Feature article below.
 
Events

Upcoming events 

6 July, 10:00 – 11:00 CET: Webinar on the ACER-CEER Wholesale Gas Market Monitoring Report. The event will focus on the remaining barriers identified in the report for the completion of the EU internal market for wholesale gas, the main developments in 2020 – Covid-19-related and wider – and on the report’s main recommendations. In additional to presenters from ACER and CEER, there will be a reaction from the European Commission. The Gas Wholesale Volume of the Market Monitoring Report (MMR) will be published in mid July 2021. Register here.
15 July, 10:00 – 11:30 CET: Online Stakeholder Forum. This will be an occasion to present in detail the newly published CEER policy strategy for 2022-2025 and the draft Work Programme for 2022 based on the strategy. The objective is to provide an opportunity to exchange ideas and receive feedback on CEER's work planned in 2022. Apart from CEER speakers, several stakeholders have been invited to provide their reactions on the priorities proposed for next year. The detailed agenda is published on the registration page, with information on participating external stakeholders to appear soon. Register here.
27 July: ACER-CEER Webinar on Methane Emissions – more information will be sent soon to subscribers and available on the CEER website, but this will present upcoming ACER-CEER work on the topic. 

Recent events
At this year's Electricity Regulatory Forum, also known as the Florence Forum, CEER actively took part with some reactions and presentations. The Forum, organised by the European Commission, addresses issues such as cross-border electricity, decarbonisation and the integration of renewable electricity. The CEER views were shared by its President Annegret Groebel; Electricity Working Group Chair, Christine Materazzi-Wagner; Distribution Systems Working Group Chair, Veli-Pekka Saajo; Vice President and Gas Working Group Chair, Pedro Verdelho; Electricity Working Group Vice Chair, Barry Hussey and Future Policy Work Stream Co-Chair, Sven Kaiser.
More info about the Forum and all background info can be found 
here
 
 
Public Consultations
Public consultation on draft 2022 Work Programme

CEER's work is defined in the work programmes developed on a yearly basis. Activities are driven by an overall strategy, which starting as of 2022, will be the new forward-looking consumer-centric "Empowering Consumers for the Energy Transition" Strategy. The strategy is built around three broad regulatory dimensions each of which has two core areas, for six in total. Each of the six core areas contain key examples that reflect appropriate strategic activities. CEER’s work programme items for the period 2022 prioritise activities that contribute to implementing these six core areas and to achieving our strategic aims. 
By this public consultation, CEER is seeking feedback on our proposed priority areas and work items of our 2022 CEER Work Programme. This public consultation is carried out through a dedicated online questionnaire. For the draft work programme and access to the questionnaire (no log-in needed), please see 
here.
 
Feature
On 28 June, CEER published the Status Review of Renewable Support Schemes in Europe for 2018 and 2019. National support schemes for renewable energy sources (RES) have been subject to important changes since the adoption of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive in 2009. From 2014 onwards, CEER member countries have been progressively adapting their schemes to comply with the general conditions for support to energy from renewables as set by the European Commission in its "Guidelines on State Aid for Environmental Protection and Energy" (EEAG). With the adoption of a revised Renewable Energy Directive in November 2018 and the adoption of a revised Electricity Market Regulation, both part of the “Clean Energy for All Europeans” legislative package (Clean Energy Package, (CEP)), the key principles of competitiveness, non-discrimination and cost-effectiveness set out in the EEAG should become the standard criteria for RES support schemes across Europe from 2021 onwards.

This status review examines in depth relevant issues for the further promotion of RES across Europe, such as RES targets, the type of support and the procedures to set levels of support, level of balancing responsibilities, and consumer empowerment notably through self-consumption. This document collects comparable data on RES support in Europe in order to provide policymakers, regulators and industry participants with information on support schemes for RES electricity by technology and type of instrument (e.g. Feed-in tariffs (FiTs), Feed-in premiums (FiPs) and Green Certificates (GCs)). This document forms the latest update to the regular CEER Status Review of Renewable Support Schemes in Europe and builds on the previous CEER reports.

Information and analysis provided are based on the questionnaire responses received from 28 CEER countries. These responses enabled analysis of data on installed capacity, on the amount of MWh (Megawatt hours) receiving support and the expenditure to promote the schemes. Regulators were also asked to provide details on new installations receiving support (those installed in either 2017 or 2018), although not all countries were able to provide this data.

In addition to direct financial support given to RES, respondents were also asked to provide information on RES objectives for 2030, support scheme financing mechanisms, balancing responsibility and indirect support. Furthermore, the questionnaire explored aspects of self-consumption as well as net-metering, energy sharing and renewable energy communities. Since most European countries are still in the process of adapting their support schemes to the new rules set out by the state aid guidelines, the questionnaire also enquired about recent and planned changes to the schemes.

 
Main conclusions
This report shows that throughout Europe, the transition towards support schemes that allow more market integration of RES and include more competitive elements in the way support levels are being determined is still ongoing. As such, the major changes observed remain related to the introduction of FiP schemes, where RES producers receive support (a fixed or variable premium) in addition to their market income, and the introduction of tendering procedures, as a means to determine levels of support.

This report also shows the unit support levels (i.e. direct cost per MWh of supported electricity) for the main renewable technologies in 2018 and 2019 for the whole support system in place. These unit support levels reflect a mixture of old and new installations and possibly old and new support systems. There are wide differences across technologies and across countries which are also driven by almost decades of RES support systems.

Based on the data provided for the current report, the weighted average support for RES decreased from 99.62 €/MWh in 2018 to 97.95 €/MWh in 2019. Whereas the total expenditure rose from 60,080 M€ to 63,593 M€.

 
A decrease in support costs is important for energy customers, as the latest ACER-CEER Market Monitoring Report shows that RES charges in 2019 accounted from 13% to more than 20% of consumer’s bills.

The proportion of gross electricity produced receiving RES support differs widely from one country to another, ranging from 3.8% in Slovenia to 66% in Denmark, with an average of 19% across CEER member countries in 2018. This is an increase from an average proportion of around 17% in 2016.

The report also brings forward that almost no changes have been made to central features such as the nature of funding, which is still mostly non-tax levies (21 out of 28 countries).

In terms of market integration, RES installations increasingly have the same financial responsibility as conventional plants for electricity balancing, at least above a certain threshold of capacity installed. The report shows that for 19 CEER member countries, balancing responsibility for RES producers is a feature in the respective national support schemes. In 11 of those 19 countries, the balancing responsibility counts for all RES producers, whereas in the other 8 countries, only selected RES producers face such responsibilities.
 
International
EU4Energy Phase II Project

 CEER’s participation in the EU4Energy project (Phase II), part of the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP), continues apace. CEER has organised a kick-off conference for the beneficiary countries, European Commission and the three implementing partners (CEER, the Energy Community Secretariat and the International Energy Agency) on 8 July. The conference will bring together energy experts from implementing and beneficiary country institutions, as well as representatives of academia to discuss the energy sector developments, regulation and objectives and key deliverables of EU4Energy Phase II. The first session of the conference will focus on energy sector developments since the EaP Brussels summit (2017), as well as on the importance of regulation for meeting the energy demand, facilitating cross-border trading and the investment environment. The second session will be dedicated to the EaP countries and their successful experience in implementation of energy reform, which could be further shared with their neighbours. A press release will be issued after the conference, sharing more information with the public.

 
CEER Training Academy
In the autumn, CEER will hold two online trainings which are also open to the public if space is available (registration priority is still given to regulators). Book your calendars and watch out for the registrations.

27-29 September: Training on Regulation of Energy Communities and New Business Models in the Energy Sector (online)

The online classes will provide an opportunity to expand knowledge and exchange experiences on the regulation of energy communities. In addition, it will provide examples of case studies and academic research on these topics.

The programme will be published soon and the registration will open in mid-July.


25-26 November: CEER-EFET Training on EU Wholesale Electricity and Gas Market Trading (online)

Do you know how the energy is traded? Training experts will explain key aspects of trading in the wholesale electricity and gas markets based on their own operational, commercial, and professional experience (rather than a theoretical perspective). The training is co-organised with the European Federation of Energy Traders (EFET)

More details and programme will follow soon. The registration opens in early September.
 
CEER is fit for innovation through
Dynamic regulation might be an efficient means for decarbonisation and digitalisation that is capable of driving growth and innovation within the energy system. Energy regulators already rely on experimental regulatory tools to test and anticipate future evolutions such as regulatory sandboxes,  pilot projects or pilot regulation.

A dedicated space for “Dynamic regulation” on the CEER website has been created to showcase examples and where we share what energy regulators are doing. You can also subscribe for upcoming newsletters to receive updates on this topic.

Have a look 
here and subscribe to our Dynamic regulation newsletter. (this is a separate subscription from the subscription to the CEER Newsletter)
          

Contact:

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